Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet by Sherri L. Smith

hotel reservation.” She flips through the pages. “Ye Ye, is this what you were doing online?”
    Her grandfather chuckles. “It was your grandmother's idea.”
    “This is fantastic!” Ana says. “First class!”
    Her father makes a strangled sound—a cheer interrupted by Ana's mother's foot on his toes.
    Right,
Ana thinks. She tries not to look at Grandma White.
Way to go, Ana.
“What a surprise,” she says. “A last-minute surprise!” Her smile wobbles a little.
    Nai Nai doesn't notice. She's too busy clapping her hands to punctuate her words. “It's not too last-minute. We planned this all along. I mean, we were going to wait until you graduated from high school, but kids are so different these days, you are old enough now. And besides, then you will have college to worry about, and we don't want to distract our salutatorian!” Nai Nai flutters forward, her hands waving in the air until they land on either side of Ana's face in a little affectionate squeeze. “Isn't that good news! A first-class trip to Taiwan!”
    “That's fantastic, Nai Nai. Really.” Ana smiles and gives her grandmother a hug. Over Nai Nai's shoulder, Ana sees her parents smile, but they don't relax.
    “That's wonderful,” Grandpa White says. Sammy giggles. “Isn't that wonderful, Olivia?”
    Grandma White doesn't answer.
    Ana takes a deep breath, disengages and rushes over to Grandma White's side. She gives her other grandmother a big hug and kiss. “A riverboat cruise—
mwah!”
She goes back to Nai Nai. “And a trip to Taiwan—
mwah!
I really am the luckiest kid in the world.”
    “Yes, you are,” Ana's mother agrees. Ana's parents squeeze hands. Ana is a diplomat and they know it. Everyone is smiling, except for Grandma White. The rest of Ana's family relaxes back into the flow of finishing dinner.
    “Well, I should go get dressed now,” Ana says, and starts to back away toward the door.
    “Baby?” Grandma White waves her back and pulls her in to whisper in her ear. She slides an opal bracelet off her wrist.
    “Here, wear this tonight for good luck.”
    Ana hesitates.
This is too weird.
“Uh . . . thanks.” She accepts the bracelet.
    No one else even notices, except for Nai Nai, who begins removing her earrings. “And these, too, Ana, for luck,” she says pointedly.
    “Um, Nai Nai, I don't have pierced ears,” Ana says apologetically.
    “Oh.” Nai Nai mutters something under her breath in Mandarin. “Here.” She struggles to remove a ring. It barely fits on Ana's pinky.
    “Thanks, both of you. I'm going to go put these on right now.”
    Her grandmothers are not looking at her anymore, just at each other.
    “Oh, and baby girl?” Grandma White says. “What your grandmother said earlier about worrying about college . . . Well, you don't have to.
We
weren't going to tell you until you graduated from high school, but your grandfather and I have been saving ever since you were born, ever since your mother met your father and we knew that they would have children. You and Sammy can both go to the college of your choice. Now, isn't that nice?”
    Ana's mother drops a dish. Everyone turns to watch it bounce, but it doesn't shatter.
    “You what, Mama?”
    “You heard me, baby. Ana's college is paid for. At least it will be by the time she's eighteen.”
    “Oh, lord,” Grandpa White says softly.
    Ana's mother bursts into a grin. “That's . . . that's amazing. Daniel? That's amazing.”
    “Wow,” Ana's dad says, and hugs Ana's mom.
    Nai Nai has turned pale.
    “We'll buy you a house,” she says in a clipped voice. “You can have our house when we are dead.”
    Ana spins around. “What? That's just crazy. I'm only fourteen!”
    “And we are healthy. It is just a little something for the future.” Nai Nai sits back, satisfied. Ana, however, is not.
    “I don't want your house!”
    “It's not good enough?”
    “No! It's yours!”
    “Hmph!” Nai Nai folds her arms angrily.
    “No, it's good, of course it's